5 year old Jeremiah Oliver was reported missing on Friday, December 13, 2013, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. However, Jeremiah Oliver was not reported missing by his mother or her boyfriend, but instead by the boys 7 year old sister. The little girl told her teacher at school that her brother was missing. According to accounts, Jeremiah Oliver’s extended family has not seen the boy for 3 months, since September. Nothing good can come from a situation where a mother fails to report her child missing.

Five-year-old Jeremiah Oliver was reported missing on Friday, but relatives say they haven’t seen the child since September.

Investigators immediately searched the home on Kimball Street in Fitchburg and quickly arrested the boy’s mother and her boyfriend.

“I’ve been here for two months. And in the two months I’ve been here, I’ve never seen them,” Ada Santos, a neighbor, said.

District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said they learned of the Jeremiah Oliver’s disappearance after his 7-year-old sister told a teacher at school.

Oliver was arrested on two counts of reckless endangerment of a child and two counts of accessory after the fact. She will be arraigned Tuesday in Fitchburg District court. The Worcester District Attorney's office said if Oliver doesn't produce the child in court, she will be held in contempt of court.

Sierra was arraigned on two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (knife) in connection to an incident with Elsa Oliver. He also faced two counts of assault and battery on a child causing bodily injury related to an incident with Jeremiah and his 7-year-old sister. He was held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.

Early said the case could be treated as a potential homicide.

Oliver's two other children are now in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families.

According to Valcourt, her brother, Jose, and Elsa Oliver used to live in the Valcourt home in Worcester along with the couple’s three children, Jeremiah, an older sister and an brother, who is the oldest of all three.

But then Oliver abruptly years ago she left abruptly one day when Jose was at work and took the three children with her. Oliver went into court and obtained a restraining order against Jose who has not had contact with his children in years, according to Valcourt.

Oliver’s eldest child, a daughter, reported to counselors at the Reingold Elementary School in Fitchburg on Dec. 2 that she, her mother, and her siblings had been abused by Sierra.

In a law enforcement interview on Dec. 13, the girl said she had seen Sierra punch and slap her mother, leaving bruises. She said she had seen Sierra hold a knife to Oliver’s knee as well as her face.

The girl also said she had seen Sierra hit both of her brothers with fists, and with a black belt with a gold buckle, causing one of her siblings’ “bum to bleed.’’ She said she had seen Sierra hit one of her brothers with such force the child was sent flying off a toilet onto the floor.

The girl said she herself had been brutalized by Sierra shortly after he moved in with her mother this May.

After the girl told school officials her brother was missing, the Department of Children and Families took custody of the two surviving children. When Oliver attended a child custody hearing on Dec. 13, she “was observed to have bruises, disheveled hair and appeared to have been assaulted,’’ State Police wrote in their report.

In a statement made public this afternoon, DCF Commissioner Olga I. Roche said a social worker and supervisor who were assigned to the Oliver family have been fired. “This case represents a serious failure on the part of the social worker and supervisor assigned to the family,” Roche said in an interview where she read from a prepared statement.

Roche said “the social worker assigned to this case did not conduct the required in-person, monthly checks on the family, as required by the department. And the supervisor of the worker failed to enforce that policy. Both have been terminated.’’

Roche would not provide a detailed account of the agency’s involvement with Elsa Oliver and her three children. She said the agency first got involved with the family in September 2011.

This June—about a month after Sierra allegedly started abusing Elsa Oliver and the three children—Jeremiah’s daycare provider reported that Elsa Oliver said the child was moving to Florida to live with his grandmother.

The social worker, Roche said, never failed to check out the report.

According to law enforcement, Jeremiah Oliver attended the Reingold Elementary school here , but his absence was not noticed at the school either, not until Oliver’s sister reported on Dec. 2 that Sierra was abusing their mother as well as the children.

Police report: Boyfriend terrorized family of missing Fitchburg boyTuesday, December 17, 2013 PrintEmailComments [18]By:Tony Planas, Antonio PlanasA man held in connection with the disappearance of a five-year-old Fitchburg boy viciously abused the boy’s mother and her children, according to a police report.

Jeremiah Oliver, 5, was last seen by relatives on Sept. 14. Jeremiah’s three-month disappearance is being treated as a “potential homicide,” authorities said. His mother, Elsa Oliver, 28, and her boyfriend, Alberto L. Sierra, 22, are under arrest as cops turn to the public for help finding the boy, authorities said.

According to a Dec. 13 police interview with Jeremiah’s sister, Sierra punched and slapped Elsa Oliver and held a knife to her face. He struck her children with fists and with a black belt with a gold buckle, causing one child’s “bum to bleed,” and knocking a child “off of the bathroom toilet with such force it caused him to fall to the floor,” the girl told police.Elsa Oliver faces two counts of reckless endangerment of a child and two counts of accessory after the fact. Mandell set a dangerousness hearing for her on Dec. 24.

The judge’s ruling infuriated Jeremiah’s uncle, Sandrino Oliver, who stormed out of the courtroom, demanding to know why his nephew’s name was never mentioned in the brief proceeding.

WTH - these poor kids. The mother should be shot for letting her kids be treated like this by her stud. When did guys become more important than your own children? As for the Social Worker - she should be beaten with a belt "burn to bleed".

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We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still. - John Stuart Mill On Liberty, 1859- George Bernard Shaw

yea iIDK, the article says she has been involved with the child services for a couple yrsprob drugs,not thinking right, a couple wks ago i offered to help a woman, that livesnear a friend, hook her up with the battered womens shelter, no go and bf had just smacked her around, le offered too, friend says its drugs, she doesnt want to get clean

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goodmorn,goodnite, got to go, as always its been wonderful, talking with you, and most of all have a great day, and dont forget to smile

FITCHBURG—The father of missing 5-year-old Jeremiah Oliver vowed he will “never give up” looking for his son, as dozens of volunteers combed through a Fitchburg neighborhood today in an attempt to find the missing boy.

In a parking lot across from the house where the family lived, the boy’s father, Jose Oliver, said he was holding out hope Jeremiah would be found.

“They didn’t have a car, so if they did do something to him, I’m pretty sure he’ll be around here,” Jose Oliver said, wearing a shirt bearing his son’s face, with “DADDY” printed on the back. “I hope that we can find something. I just want to find my son.”

A judge this week ordered Elsa Oliver to undergo a mental evaluation. But Jose Oliver said he doubted his wife was incompetent.

“I’ve been married with Elsa for eight years. She wasn’t like that with my kids when she lived with me,” he said. “She always made sure they went to school, she always made sure they got fed, she always brought them to the doctor’s appointment, she was always playing with them, telling them I love you, kissing them, and so on. So I don’t believe that she’s not sane, unless she has something to do with it.”

Volunteers prayed for the little boy, then dispersed into nearby woods and neighborhoods to search, poking at the melting snowpack with fallen branches. One group searched a culvert in the hill behind the family’s home, calling for a flashlight. They found nothing, and Jeremiah’s uncle, Sandrino Oliver, emerged from the dark tunnel wailing and screaming in despair. Another search party made its way along nearby railroad tracks, pulling aside thick brush and digging into piles of earth and leaves.

A judge ordered a Massachusetts man held without bail Tuesday in the case of his girlfriend's missing 5-year-old son, who was last seen by relatives months ago.

The attorney for Alberto Sierra of Fitchburg did not contest prosecutors' request to hold him based on dangerousness. Documents related to the case have been impounded and prosecutors did not elaborate.

Judge Margaret Guzman did say the boy's mother, Elsa Oliver of Fitchburg, can be released if she can make $100,000 bail and meet other conditions, including wearing a monitoring bracelet, resolving a contempt case in juvenile court and dealing with mental health issues. Her attorney, Gavin Reardon, said he can't get useful information from her. A competency hearing is set for Jan. 10.

A judge ordered a Massachusetts man held without bail Tuesday in the case of his girlfriend's missing 5-year-old son, who was last seen by relatives months ago.

The attorney for Alberto Sierra of Fitchburg did not contest prosecutors' request to hold him based on dangerousness. Documents related to the case have been impounded and prosecutors did not elaborate.

Judge Margaret Guzman did say the boy's mother, Elsa Oliver of Fitchburg, can be released if she can make $100,000 bail and meet other conditions, including wearing a monitoring bracelet, resolving a contempt case in juvenile court and dealing with mental health issues. Her attorney, Gavin Reardon, said he can't get useful information from her. A competency hearing is set for Jan. 10.

They should nail his hide to the wall until he yells them what he did and where he put the little guy. So sad.

Father of missing boy admits checkered past; will seek custody of children at January hearingDecember 29, 2013

Jose Oliver, who lives in New Britain, Conn., said today that Elsa Oliver left him, took their three children, and filed a restraining order against him because he was using drugs, preventing him from seeing their children for two years. He claimed he tried to contact her repeatedly, but she did not respond.

Oliver said he got clean the day his wife left. He disputed a 2012 affidavit in which she alleged physical abuse.

“I never put my hands on my wife,” he said. “I’ll take a lie detector test on that.”

The state Department of Children and Families permitted Oliver to visit the children this week for about two hours, his first time seeing them in two years, he said.

Oliver admitted to having a criminal history in the 1990s, including an arrest for possession of heroin that resulted in him being put on probation. He said he was a passenger in a car that was pulled over by police, and that the drugs belonged to the driver.

He said he did not recall a charge of assault and battery reported by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, but acknowledged using marijuana, which he does not consider a drug. Oliver denied being in a gang, saying “I don’t believe in that. I’m not a violent person.... I’m a church person.”

Oliver said he is living on $600 per month of disability benefits, granted because he has depression and bipolar disorder. But he said he is searching for a suitable apartment and would be able to care for the children with the help of relatives and support programs.

OSTON (AP) — A third employee of a Massachusetts social services agency has been fired after the investigation into the case involving a 5-year-old boy who has not been seen for months and is feared dead.Department of Children and Families Commissioner Olga Roche (Roh-CHAY') said Monday that an area program manager failed to ensure any follow-up after multiple reports of abuse and neglect in Jeremiah Oliver's Fitchburg home.A social worker and supervisor were dismissed this month and Roche says another manager was given a three-day suspension without pay and removed from a decision-making position.She says an internal investigation by the agency found staff missed multiple opportunities to engage with the Oliver family.

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

The father of missing Fitchburg boy Jeremiah Oliver — who is seeking custody of his two other kids while authorities search in vain for the 5-year-old — has been arrested in Connecticut on charges he sold heroin to undercover cops, police said.

Oliver told the Herald last week he is seeking custody of his other son and daughter, who are currently in the care of Massachusetts child-welfare officials. He said a hearing had been set for Jan. 10.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick and officials at the state Department of Children and Families were quick to claim last week that the agency's failures to protect 5-year-old Jeremiah Oliver of Fitchburg — who has been missing since September and may have been killed — was a "unique" case and does not indicate a systematic problem in the agency.

But those "final" conclusions by the agency on the heels of their in-house investigation into the case could prove premature, especially with so many disturbing questions remaining unanswered.

The public has not heard details behind the child abuse charges pending against his mother and her live-in boyfriend that have them being held in custody. The DCF has been unable to explain so far why social workers and supervisors failed so blatantly in their duties, including failure to act on repeated reports of child abuse in the home. Meanwhile, the ultimate question of what happened to the boy remains a mystery.

The agency's own investigation into how social workers failed to monitor his safety and living conditions despite three 51a reports of ongoing child abuse since June, found that the social worker assigned his case failed to conduct required home monthly visits to ensure his safety and that her supervisor tolerated and covered up those failings. In addition, the area supervisor of the North Central DCF office went along with the apparently negligent oversight. They have all been fired.

At a press conference detailing the investigation findings, DCF Commissioner Olga Roche said at a time when abuse reports were piling up about the boy, the supervisor was filing reports indicating the family's apartment was clean and suitable even though the social worker had not visited the home. Based on interviews conducted for the investigation, officials said, "It is evident that the supervisor was proven to be untruthful" regarding reports on the condition of the family's home, she said.

"Our investigation showed that the individuals charged with the care of the Oliver family failed to meet their responsibilities," Ms. Roche said. While the family received initial services from DCF going back to 2011, she said, once they moved to Fitchburg and the case was referred to that North Central DCF office in January 2013, its staff missed many opportunities to engage the family.

"The absence of home visits to assess the safety of the children was a serious failure," Ms. Roche said. "It is my belief that the failure and misconduct of the staff involved in this case contributed to this tragedy."

But when asked specifically by the Telegram & Gazette why the social worker failed to conduct monthly home visits and respond to the abuse reports and why supervisors allowed it, Ms. Roche had no answer.

The commissioner may be restrained from releasing further details of the case because of confidentiality and the pending criminal investigation. Without those answers, the public is left to wonder how this could have happened.

Ms. Roche recounted the verification the investigation produced into the lack of visits and monitoring, but repeatedly was unable to answer why a social worker and her supervisors would fail so tragically on what is the prime responsibility of their jobs.

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo has said he is seeking legislative hearings on the case, while Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr has called for an independent commission probe, with an eye to reforms to prevent future tragedies. Also, the state Office of the Child Advocate is conducting a review of the case and police are pressing criminal probes.

Hopefully those investigations will provide more facts to evaluate how this situation and the abuse of the boy continued essentially right under the purview of the state agency charged with protecting endangered children.

The agency's conclusion that the negligence in the case is not linked to systematic problems within the agency outside of the North Central regional office was not reflected in the immediate corrective actions Ms. Roche said were being taken. In fact, her immediate directions all involved systemwide changes and immediate case reviews statewide. More...

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

The father of missing Fitchburg boy Jeremiah Oliver was in court on Friday seeking custody of his two other children.

It was not clear what happened in the courtroom, where Jose Oliver was trying to gain custody of his daughter and other son, ages nine and seven respectively. The hearing was closed to reporters.

Oliver was arrested in December in Connecticut on drug charges, after allegedly setting up a meeting to sell heroin to an undercover officer.

On Friday, Oliver spoke briefly to reporters after the hearing, saying he felt too much attention was being placed on him and not enough on Jeremiah, according to NECN.

"Put yourself in my shoes. I'm not rich; I'm poor. I did a stupid mistake, that's it," Oliver said to NECN and others in a brief interview outside the courtroom. "It was a mistake. I wasn't in a state of mind, I wasn't thinking. I was just desperate, a desperate father."Video at Link

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan